Open Your Eyes
by Chaos Githzerai
Summary: Even though he had no idea what she looked like, he knew that he cared for her and that he would go to any length to keep her safe... no matter the consequences. Zweilous x Mienfoo.


_Author's Note: I know I haven't written anything in a long while or updated any of my projects, but, to be frank, my life had been absolute hell during that time of inactivity and I'm just now starting to get my life turned around for the better. Pokémon Black has been a huge help with this along with all of my good friends who stood with me during my hardships. While playing Black, I became extremely fond of the Deino family and the Mienfoo family, and events that actually happened between my Hydreigon back when he was a Zweilous and my Mienshao back when she was a Mienfoo ended up with me pairing these two families together because it was so touching and unexpected. This one-shot is based off of that event, and I plan on writing at least one more one-shot for these two in their fully evolved forms as well before I finally return to what I should be working on. I know I probably won't get very many reviews for this, but I enjoyed writing it. PoV shifts between the main characters near the end._

_Special thanks go out to my best friend, Ayaluki, the best beta-reader I could ever ask for._

_Once again, Pokémon is © to that wonderful mastermind, Satoshi Tajiri._

* * *

><p><em>"Mel, get down!"<em>

_"What the- oof! Sturm, what the hell are you _doing_?"_

_He felt the Mienfoo struggling underneath him in an attempt to wriggle free of being pinned, but the Zweilous refused to relent. His left head opened its mouth to speak, only to be cut off by a sound he could only describe as the loudest thunderclap he'd ever heard going off behind them as the Driftblim they'd been fighting took its own life in order to deal with the pair once and for all. Both sets of ears were ringing, and he felt Melanie bury her face against his chest, her paws clutching at his thick fur._

_'_Be strong..._'_

_The wave from the blast of the Explosion washed over him, and Sturm grit both sets of teeth as he tried his damndest to keep from crying out in pain. His back and his single pair of wings felt like they were on fire, but he knew that if Melanie was safe, such pain was worth it all._

_"Mel... anie...?" he rasped, suddenly feeling extremely weak and tired. He felt movement underneath him before the Mienfoo spoke, though her voice was trembling,_

_"I'm okay... Sturm, you didn't need-"_

_"I... wanted... you... safe..." he managed to rasp out before he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness, the last thing he heard being Melanie's cry of his name._

_"Sturm? Sturm!"_

* * *

><p><span>Lacunosa Town - Pokémon Center, the following morning.<span>

'_I feel like I danced with an Emboar and lost... oh, my back..._'

The dark dragon gave vent to a double-growl as he tried to shift himself into a better position upon the bed, the claws upon his forelimbs nearly tearing into the sheet. Both heads perked a bit upon hearing the sound of the door to his room opening, followed by nimble footsteps and then the sound of someone scrambling up onto the bed. Not even a second later, the Zweilous felt a pair of arms, one around each neck, and a fuzzy face nuzzling against both of his in turn.

"Mel-"

"You... you _idiot_! What the hell were you _thinking_ back there in the Chasm? You could've gotten yourself... could've gotten yourself... Y-you're very damn lucky you're alive right now!"

Any other Zweilous would've snarled and torn into her before she'd gotten even the first word out, but Sturm was different from his kin. He was gentle, understanding; even his heads didn't bicker that much amongst themselves, save for when it came to food.

"Melanie, have you been... crying?" he asked, ignoring her rant since he knew she didn't mean many of the things that had come flying out of her mouth. Despite having the temper characteristic to her typing, Melanie rarely allowed it to ever best her to the point of sheer anger. At most, she'd become grouchy and mildly irritated, which was a characteristic that would usually manifest whenever she was tired. He heard her sniffle as she pulled away from him, her arms sliding from around his necks.

"N-no, of course not! I don't cry."

"Then why's your fur damp? Just because I'm blind doesn't mean the rest of my senses don't work either."

Silence from the Mienfoo told him all he needed to know, and the not so Hostile Pokémon held back a sigh of frustration at the fact that the aftermath of the Explosion had affected part of his wings, primarily near the base of both. He wished that the pain would subside enough for him to fold them around her so he could at least return her hug, but the same thought caused him to shake one of his heads to chase it away. If he were to try something like that, he knew that it would've been... extremely awkward. Not only due to the fact that he was blind, but because initiating any sort of contact between them had always been done by Melanie rather than by Sturm himself. The silence was growing rather uncomfortable, and he swore that he could hear Kricketots chirping outside...

'_Say something._'

"So... what's for dinner?"

'_... Not. That._'

The question had come flying out of the mouth of his right head before he could stop himself, making the Dark-type wish that he could facepalm. Had he not been in any pain or still feeling groggy, his left head would've already dealt out a warning nip to his right for saying something so stupid and far off the current subject.

A soft snort came from his teammate, and he felt the bed shifting a bit along with the light rustling of the sheet which told him that she'd twisted a bit to look at him.

"It's early in the morning, Sturm, so it'd be breakfast, not dinner."

"Last thing I remember, it was evening, because the sounds were different than they are during the day, so... you're telling me that I've been out for the entire night?"

"You got it. Dinner didn't taste that great, anyway, it wasn't the same without you there to argue with yourself over who'd get the most dumplings."

"Dumplings..." He trailed off, his right head gritting its teeth. "When I finally evolve, I'm going to Dragon Pulse every last Driftblim I come across."

A muffled snicker came from the Fighting-type, and the sound made him feel a little better. Melanie had the most contagious laughter out of the rest of his teammates, and though he'd never openly admit it, that trait of her personality was one of the things he liked the most about her.

"Shani knows how much you like them, so she made sure to save some for you, don't worry, though they'll have to be warmed up again."

"Meh, I don't care. Dumplings are dumplings, but I'm not really that hungry right now. I'm still tired," he replied, moving to lay both heads back down upon the bed, twin sighs leaving him in unison. "Um... you came out from the Explosion unscathed... right?"

"Yeah." The Mienfoo's voice was soft, and the dragon raised his left head a little when he felt a light pressure against his back, telling him that she was resting a paw there. "I wasn't hurt thanks to what you did, just shaken and afraid that you were... you know..."

"Oh, come on, I'm not a Deino anymore, Mel. A stupid Driftblim's not going to be enough to kill me outright."

"But, please, don't go throwing yourself into a situation like that ever again, okay?" She trailed off, and he heard her sniffle a few times before she spoke again. "Especially not on account of me. I feel so bad that you're going to be scarred for the rest of your life now, probably even after you evolve..."

"I can't promise you something like that, Mel. If not for you, Shani, and the others, I would still be trying to survive out in the wilds. I'd still be that pathetic little Deino you found that day our paths crossed. I owe you _so much_ for _everything_, and I don't really know how to show it aside from trying to return the favor." The Zweilous trailed off for a moment to draw breath, before his right head raised itself up off the bed and resumed where the left had stopped. "If our positions had been reversed, I _never_ would've forgiven myself if you'd ended up severely injured. You may be able to deal out some pretty strong hits, but you can't exactly take them in stride... That Explosion probably would've done so much worse to you than it did to me. I promised myself that I wouldn't let anything terrible happen to any of you... especially not to you, Melanie. Not to you." Both heads grinned, showing two sets of sharp fangs. "Besides, scars aren't all bad."

Nothing but silence followed his little speech, he heard her fidget a bit and a soft noise that sounded suspiciously like a yawn.

"... Am I that damn boring to you?"

"No, of course not! It caught me suddenly, sorry, Sturm. I didn't really sleep that well, but that..." She trailed off, and he heard her yawn again, before the sudden absence of the light pressure against his back told him that she'd removed her paw from where it had been resting. He heard her whisper something to herself under her breath, though too soft for him to understand what, before he felt a calloused paw come to rest against the side of his left neck. "That was the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me, thank you. I've been traveling with you guys for a while now, but I... I _still_ find it so hard to believe that nobody looks down upon me anymore. That we're all... equal."

"I was just stating the truth, but it's no problem, really." He paused, wishing that he could say more without sounding like an insensitive bastard. She was dear to him, and it was times like this that made Sturm wish that he wasn't a Dark-type, especially whenever Melanie made allusions to her rocky past. "That part of your life's over now, Mel. That human who abandoned you was an idiot for not being able to see your potential just because of a fear you can't help. I just wish you'd stop wearing that damned Everstone, though, you're really screwing yourself over by postponing your own evolution."

"You know the reason why." The faint tinkling of the thin chain told him that the Mienfoo had grasped the damn thing with her free paw, and he heard her give vent to a deep sigh. "I'm wearing it because I want to wait for you, Sturm. I want us to reach our final forms together."

"I..." He trailed off, nearly slipping up and blurting out something he was nervous about ever letting her hear him say, and he gave vent to a double-sigh of defeat before he moved to lay both heads back down again, knowing that to try and argue with her about her choice would just be pointless. "I'm going to go back to sleep for a bit. You can stay if you'd like, there's enough room."

No response came from Melanie as she removed her paw from where it had been resting against the side of his neck, and Sturm felt himself blush double-time when he felt a light pressure against his side that told him she'd curled up right beside him. He clenched both sets of teeth as he slowly spread his wing to lay it across the Martial Arts Pokémon, knowing that he'd probably never get another opportunity to silently display his true feelings towards her like this.

"Thank you, Sturm... for everything."

Her words made him smile, and he opened a mouth to reply, only to stop himself when her slow, even breathing told him that Melanie was asleep. He inclined his left head towards her, gently touching his muzzle to hers for a brief second before he lay his head next to hers and allowed himself to drift off as well, the thought he'd nearly slipped up in revealing running though his minds.

'_I'm looking forward to my final evolution, because I'll be finally able to open my eyes and see you._'

* * *

><p><span>A few months later...<span>

"Great job, you guys, you're really coming along well as a double battle team," Shani said, brushing a strand of dark hair behind her right ear before she reached down to gently pat the dark dragon, giving both the left and right heads equal attention. "You've come a long way since what happened back in the Giant Chasm, Sturm, I'm very, very proud of you."

"Thank you, Shani," he murmured, even though he and Melanie both knew that their trainer couldn't really understand him. The Martial Arts Pokémon moved to stand next to him, only to cry out and leap back when her friend was suddenly engulfed within a white light before his form began to change, growing larger as the light intensified, forcing Melanie and her trainer to avert their eyes until it finally dimmed and faded away all together. She heard Shani gasp, and Melanie slowly opened her eyes, allowing them to fall upon where her friend had been standing, and she felt them widen when they saw the creature who now stood where the Zweilous once had been.

The dragon stood upon two legs now as opposed to four, and where he'd once sported only a single pair of narrow wings, now there were two more pairs, the secondary pair slightly longer than the first pair and the third pair considerably smaller than the first two. The upper part of his body down to his chest was covered in thick grayish-black fur, while his lower half was covered in dark blue scales, with twin stripes of magenta upon his underside. Rather than the tiny blue stump, his tail was now long and tipped by a tuft of grayish-black fur, but the part of him that garnered the most attention were his three heads. Two of them were small with black eyes that may or may not have possessed sight, but since Sturm wasn't using them to look about, they more than likely couldn't see. His main head was covered in dark blue scales, a ring of spiky magenta fur framing it, a smaller ring of spiky magenta fur also accenting both of his smaller heads.

'_He's the same, yet... he's so different..._'

The familiar beeping of Shani's Pokédex came to Melanie's ears before the device spoke in that odd voice it always used when informing its owner about a Pokémon:

"_**Hydreigon, the Brutal Pokémon and the final form of Deino. The heads on its arms do not have brains. It travels the skies upon six wings, deeming anything that moves as a foe and using all three heads to consume and destroy once it has attacked.**_"

'_That... doesn't fit him _at all_..._' Melanie thought to herself, shaking her head when she realized that she'd been staring at the Dark-type with her mouth hanging open.

The dragon hadn't moved, causing a frown of concern to spread across the weasel 'mon's muzzle before she slowly closed the distance between them, stopping when only a foot separated the two of them. It was then that she noticed that the dragon's eyes upon his main head were tightly shut, and she honestly couldn't blame him for being so hesitant to finally experience something he'd dreamt about for so long. She thought about raising a paw to gently touch his face, but remembering what Shani's Pokédex had stated, the Mienfoo decided to not risk it... but there was no way he could undergo such a radical change in personality... could he?

Well, there was only one way to find out.

"Open your eyes, Sturm." Her voice was soft as she spoke, though it trembled in anxiety of how he would react when he finally got to look at her. "Open your eyes and don't be afraid."

The newly evolved Hydreigon took a slow, deep breath before he slowly opened his left eye, then his right. He blinked rapidly a few times before squeezing his eyes shut for a long moment, and when he reopened them, Melanie felt herself stiffen when the dark dragon's crimson eyes settled right on her. The weasel 'mon tore her attention from him to look at the ground as she shyly scuffed a foot against the grass, feeling her teammate's infant gaze still upon her and knowing that he was taking in every detail of her physical appearance.

"Melanie..."

She hesitantly raised her head at hearing him say her name, and the Mienfoo blinked when the Hydreigon inclined his main head closer to her, feeling herself blush when he gently touched the tip of his muzzle to her nose for a fleeting moment. He then tilted his head down, his jaws parting and catching her Everstone pendant between his teeth. One small tug was all it took for the thin chain that had supported it to break, and Melanie remained silent as Sturm pulled back a bit before he allowed the pendant to drop to the ground, a small smile playing across his muzzle - something quite rare for him despite his unusually gentle nature.

"It's your turn now. Don't be afraid."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Secondary Author's Note: Fff... Sturm's desc as a <em><strong>Hydreigon<strong>_ was an absolute killer to write.**_


End file.
